Side Story Chapter 58 - Biohazard (4)

"It can't be true!!!"

Oh Kang-Woo screamed in despair as he pulled on his hair. Satan, who had become a rag, was no longer moving. The life of Kang-Woo's partner, who had lived through countless battles with him, had come to an end.

"A-Aaaahh!"

A blazing emotion surged from deep within him— yes, this emotion was known as

wrath

.

"BASTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD!!!"

Kang-Woo glared at the monster that fired blood bullets like a machine gun. His ferociously blazing wrath took over his sense of reason.

"How dare you... How dare you do this to Satan...?!"

"Kaarrr?"

The otherworldly monster tilted its head in confusion as its countless legs squirmed, unable to understand the situation. Kang-Woo grimaced at how shameless the monster was acting.

"Kurgh!"

He couldn't find even an ounce of emotion from the evil being. He was sure the otherworldly monster had come to Earth to end humanity as they knew it.

"You'd better not think things will go your way."

Kang-Woo resolved himself. He couldn't waste the chance Satan made for him at the cost of his life.

"Satan... I will never forget... your brave sacrifice..."

[

C-Cough!

Guuuuuhhhhh! Wh-Why am I not r-regenerating...?]

"Wait, what the fuck? You're alive?"

"KaaaaaarRRRRRRRRR!!"

After receiving nutrition from human flesh, the centipede that had grown giant screeched as it squirmed. The lump of flesh in the form of a giant bipedal creature, connected to the centipede, walked toward Kang-Woo and swung its giant arm-like lump. The red thorns sprouted on the surface shot out like a screen of bullets.

"Kurgh! Shit!!!"

[N-No, wait a s— Kurgh! Urgh! Gaaaaaaaahhh!!]

Kang-Woo blocked the red thorns, using Satan's corpse as a shield, and raised his greatsword with one arm.

"Oh..."

Come to think of it, this was

Wrath

, Satan's former weapon. The sword and shield he was using were filled with precious memories between him and Satan— no, it meant more than that.

'You could say... this shield is Satan himself.'

Kang-Woo teared up. He clenched his sword and blocked the thorns with his shield. He could hear agonizing groans from the shield but ignored it, brushing it off as a hallucination.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!" Kang-Woo screamed as he charged forward, blocking the shower of red thorns using Satan's shield.

He leaped into the air and swung the sword down on the hideous lump of flesh.

Shatter—!!

The Authority infused in

Wrath

activated and tore apart the monster's flesh, but it was not enough. Kang-Woo needed something stronger to put Satan's vengeful spirit to rest.

"Sunset."

Fwoosh—!!

The Flames of Voracity blazed ferociously, flowing into the monster through Wrath, and engulfed it. Marks formed on the lump of flesh as if it were bitten apart by a wild beast.

"KuRUUUUUuuAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" the centipede screeched in pain as it thrashed about.

Whoooom!

"What the hell is this?!"

Enormous energy surged from the thrashing centipede.

Wham!

Kang-Woo quickly pushed Satan's corpse in front of him to block but a massive impact blew him away.

"Kurgh!" Kang-Woo tumbled across the ground. "Guh..."

He groaned as he glared at the centipede and froze.

"That's..."

He saw the mark of a golden balance scale engraved on the forehead of the thrashing centipede.

"Hah," Kang-Woo chuckled. "Yeah, I was wondering when you'd make your move."

He gritted his teeth. He understood at last why a mere insect from an outer world could nullify his immortality and why he couldn't detect its energy even with the Authority of Insight.

"Akart."

The Titan of Light, Truth, and Balance had been behind it.

"Sheesh, what's with his tastes in subordinates?"

First, it was a lion, then a monkey, and now a centipede.

"Are we going through the entire animal kingdom?"

Kang-Woo chuckled as his eyes gleamed fiercely, glaring at the centipede with the mark of Libra on its forehead.

"Fuuu, haaa."

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. His heart was beating like crazy. His objective did not change after figuring out that the centipede was Akart's subordinate. It would be impossible to squeeze any information out of the centipede since it did not seem to have intelligence and seemed worthless as a hostage.

'If that's the case...'

"Die, you fucking insect."

There was no reason not to kill it.

Rumble—!!

Thunderous booms echoed with each step the lump of flesh connected to the centipede took.

"KaaaaaaaaRRRRRRRR!!!"

Its screech was ear-splitting. The golden Libra mark on its forehead shone brightly.

'First off.'

Kang-Woo examined the otherworldly monster with deeply sunken eyes as he thought of the most efficient way to end its life.

'I have to separate the main body from that lump of flesh.'

The centipede was attacking only with the giant lump of flesh it formed by gathering human corpses. There was a good chance it was weak on its own.

'In that case...'

Kang-Woo acted fast— there was no reason to hesitate now that he had his objective. He reached the lump of flesh in an instant as he dodged the barrage of blood bullets. He raised his sword, aiming for the junction between the centipede and the lump of flesh.

"KaaaaAAAAaakakakakakakaka!!"

The centipede rampaged even more aggressively as if proving Kang-Woo's hypothesis was correct. Red thorns sprouted from the junction.

"No, you don't!!!"

Kang-Woo raised Satan's corpse he was holding with his left hand. Attacks of this level were nothing as long as he and his partner joined forces.

Stab! Stab! Stab!

The red thorns pierced Satan's body; he was no longer grunting in agony.

"Satan is dead!!!"

His partner was no more.

"But... BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT!!!" Kang-Woo shouted as he clenched his sword. "He will live on in my heart... in my stomach!!!"

Kang-Woo shoved the sword into the junction between the centipede and the lump of flesh.

"FRIEND SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORD!!!"

Blood sprouted like a fountain. Kang-Woo ferociously twisted the sword he stabbed into the junction. A red thorn pierced through Satan's corpse as blood spurted all over the place.

"KiiiiiiiiikaaaaaaaaaaaaAAA!" the centipede screeched as it stared at Kang-Woo, who was cutting away at the junction.

Its eyes looked as if it were miserable. It withdrew its red thorns as if it had no intention of fighting anymore. It couldn't talk but Kang-Woo interpreted its actions as compromising to be spared and that it would do as Kang-Woo asked.

"Kehehehehe!" Kang-Woo cackled as he stared at the centipede. "No, no. No, you fucking insect."

He smiled widely as he reached out to grab the centipede, just barely connected to the lump of flesh.

"There are no compromises in revenge."

Kang-Woo gripped the centipede and pulled it apart from the lump of flesh with all his might.

"KAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!"

The centipede screeched harder than it ever did.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"

The centipede was fully separated from the flesh and tumbled across the ground, squirming miserably.

"Kiiiiiiii... kyaaaaa......."

As Kang-Woo expected, it couldn't do anything aside from parasitizing other lifeforms and controlling them. He walked toward the squirming centipede as he put pressure on his injured flank.

"Do you feel it?" he asked coldly as he looked down at the centipede. "Hm? Do you feel it, you fucking insect?"

Fwoosh!

The Flames of Voracity traveled up the blade of

Wrath

. Kang-Woo recalled the things that disappeared.

'Ahh.'

The trip that would have been fun... the extravagant swimming pool on the hotel rooftop... and the three women's swimsuits that would have dwarfed the beauty of the swimming pool. The would-be most precious time of his life disappeared because of the fucking insect from the outer world.

'And...'

Satan— an old friend Kang-Woo had known since the Ninth Hell as well as his precious partner with whom he had fought countless battles together. He sacrificed himself for Kang-Woo without hesitation and drew his last breath as he handed Kang-Woo his most treasured sword as he wished for Kang-Woo to kill that monster with it.

"This is—"

Kang-Woo bit his lip, feeling the sharp pain from his flank. However, the pain was nothing compared to his heartbreak.

"My【Wrath】."

He thrusted his sword down on the mark of Libra on the centipede's forehead.

"KAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!" the centipede screeched for the last time after being pierced in its head and collapsed lifelessly.

"Haaa, haaa," Kang-Woo panted heavily. He turned away from the dead monster and looked around. "Is it... over?"

Likely because the host died, the monsters that had been slaughtering other people suddenly stopped in their tracks and stood blankly as if they were a machine turned off.

"..."

Kang-Woo slowly walked toward Satan's ragged corpse. His eyes were open— Kang-Woo could only imagine how worried Satan was for Kang-Woo for his eyes to be open even in death. Kang-Woo closed Satan's eyes with his hand, telling him not to worry.

"A-Aaaahh," he groaned as tears flowed down his cheeks.

He looked up at the sunset in silence. The night would fall soon. He would have to face a night... without Satan.